Xombie

Xombie is an animated web cartoon created by James Farr, set in a post-apocalyptic Earth in the near future. The germ Nekrosis causes all dead humans and animals to rise up as a zombie 2 to 3 minutes after death.

The plot centers around Dirge, a “Xombie”, who has retained his human nature and sensibilities despite coming back as one of the undead, though he has lost all of his memories. He spends the vast majority of his time in an underground room filled wall-to-wall with books, and has installed a chamber that can be filled with embalming fluid to keep himself and his zombie dog, Cerberus, from decomposing. This is only a temporary solution, and he faces the inescapable fact that some day he will completely rot away. Zoe, a small girl who suffers from amnesia, awakes one night on a beach shore, and wanders into a cemetery, where zombies attack her. Dirge leaps in to save her, wielding a shovel, and quickly dispatches the undead. He promises to take Zoe to the nearest human city, though at this point we are unsure of his motivation, and are led to believe that even he doesn’t know why he is doing it.

Despite its large fanbase, detractors are still abundant. Most notorious of their criticisms is the famous Balto design controversy. Many noticed a similarity between Balto’s Steele and the undead Cerberus, especially in walk cycles, and in a 2 second-long running sequence. Farr has since admitted to rotoscoping the 2-second sequence, and gone back to change the animation. He has also had Cerberus’s face ripped off by an enemy and stapled back on in a mismatched fashion in order to change the design. Since this cartoon is free to the public, further complications are not expected to arise.

The series is currently on its fifth chapter, with a sixth soon to come. A DVD movie deal is currently in the works, courtesy Wetsand Animation ( www.wetsandanimation.com ).

The show’s official website is www.Xombified.com

The official movie website is www.Xombie.CA

The series has reached thousands via the web thanks to newgrounds.com, and new fans are constantly signing up on the forums ( www.xombieforum.com ).